Washington Semester Program Global Economics & Business students visit the Capitol Building in Washington DC

Stephen Stavrou

Global Economics & Business

February 22 | Let me start off by saying that this has been by far the most interesting semester of my college career. Living, learning and working in DC has become my idea trifecta. I am now almost half way through this semester and much like my peers, I can't believe how fast time has gone by.

Since my last post, Professor Sosland has taken our seminar class to a speaker at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an event on Cryptocurrency at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Federal Reserve to meet with a former Secretary of the Board and to the US Capital for a tour. In addition to my experience with my seminar class, my internship as a NAPA NASA project intern has continued to be an extremely interesting experience. The opportunity for WSP students to not only discuss current topics and issues that relate to the material we are learning in class, but to also be able to reinforce our learning through real world application is an unbelievable experience.

Washington Semester Program students in the Global Economics & Business seminar with Professor Jeffrey Sosland Outside of class and my internship, I have continued to explore all that DC has to offer, which I realized is more than I ever imagined. Before this semester, every time that I would visit DC I would drive (my first mistake). The best way I can describe driving in DC, especially during rush hour, is like getting on an elevator to the top floor of a 50-story building with every single button pressed. Thankfully, there is a life-saving public transportation system that makes anywhere that you want to go in DC, fast and easy. This past weekend I went over to the Capital One Arena for a Washington Capitals hockey game. I have been a huge hockey fan growing up and highly recommend that everyone attends at least one game (especially Capitals). The Caps came away with a win which was a great start to the weekend. On Saturday I decided to metro down to Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle, two areas that I have heard so many great things about but have yet been to. They live up to the hype. Both areas are full of awesome hole in the wall coffee shops, delicious restaurants, lively sports bars and a huge variety of shops. This weekend I am planning to head down to one of my favorite historic landmarks, George Washington's house in Mount Vernon.

Writing this post has made me realize just how many places that I have gone, people I have met, and things that I have learned since my last post. Unreal. Every week keeps getting better and better. I can only imagine what is to come next.

Blog History

Washington Semester Program students visit the Newseum as a class.

Stephen Stavrou

Global Economics & Business

February 8 | I have lived my whole life in Arlington, Virginia - so traveling to DC to see the monuments, museums and for sporting events has been a regular occurrence for my entire life. Even though I have always lived so close to DC, I have never felt like I truly was able to experience the city. Before going to college my friends and I had a conversation where we decided that we had taken for granted the fact that we lived so close to our nation's capital. Many of my friends are studying abroad in foreign countries this semester. I knew that I wanted to have a unique experience in a different environment that would also expand my learning outside of the classroom and when I came across the Washington Semester Program I knew that it was exactly what I was looking for.

The idea of living in DC, interning and taking classes in a different way greatly excited me, however, I had no idea how much I had underestimated just how amazing of a program I was about to undertake. From the first day of my seminar class where Professor Sosland explained how we would not only be learning about international economics and business in the classroom, but that we would also be having multiple guest speakers and class trips, I was hooked. So far, we have traveled to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Newseum and we have had a guest speaker from General Dynamics come and speak to our class. Our two guest speakers greatly enhanced our ability to understand the concepts that we have been discussing in class in greater detail and have been unparalleled opportunities to interact with experts in our field of study. Although I have been to the Newseum before, they have added multiple exhibits that I have never seen such as the FBI exhibit and the Pulitzer prize pictures exhibit which took my breath away.

Washington Semester Program Professor Jeffrey Sosland's class attends guest speaker event at the headquarters of the AFL-CIO.I am currently interning with the National Academy of Public Administration which has been an amazing experience so far. I am currently assisting a project team that has been asked by NASA to do a review of the NASA Advisory Committee. The individuals that I have been able to work with and the experience that I have gained through the tasks that I have assisted with have been very insightful learning experiences and I am very excited for everything to come in the future.

Thus far, my semester has been more than I could ever ask for. I have met amazing people, learned an unbelievable amount and been able to travel to many places in DC that I have never been to before.